


You Can Break my Heart a Million Times, But Please Don’t Lie

by clandestinemeetingsinthetrees



Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aangst, Angst, F/M, Kataang Breakup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27871197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clandestinemeetingsinthetrees/pseuds/clandestinemeetingsinthetrees
Summary: “You can break my heart in to a million pieces, you can tell me whatever you want. I’m not that little boy I know you’ve always seen me as. I can take it. But don’t sit here and lie to me"Aang wants to take the next step in his relationship with Katara, but she's not sure what she wants.Written for ZK Drabble December 2020 day 2
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: ZK Drabble December 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2040542
Kudos: 15
Collections: ZK Drabble December 2020





	You Can Break my Heart a Million Times, But Please Don’t Lie

“I have some negotiations to do in the Earth Kingdom, issues with the fire nation colonies again. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone for.”

“Oh, well I’ll write to you.”

She always responds like this. Aang couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t just come with him! What’s she doing in the Southern Water Tribe that’s so important? Whenever he visits all she does is complain about how annoying Sokka is or how she wishes her tribe would give her more responsibility, yet every time he offers her an escape, she declines.

“I’m needed here Aang,” she’d say. “I can’t just drop everything and follow you around the world.” 

But couldn’t she? Aang understood her wanting to spend some time at home with her family after they’d been separated for so long, but if they were going to ever take the next step in their relationship, she’d have to travel with him.

It’s not an ideal situation, he knew, but he is the Avatar and he had to be able to drop everything at any moment to help the world. It’s his duty, no matter how much he resented it.

Honestly, all he could think about these days was just settling down somewhere with Katara. A real home, like he had with the rest of his people. Aang had always been a traveler, but these past few years had offered so little stability that the fantasy of a future with Katara was the only thing getting him through it. I guess that’s what happens when you save a broken world. Stopping the damage is easy, putting the pieces back together is much harder. 

“Katara…” he started, “I really think you should come with me”. There was a tentative edge to his voice, she looked back at him surprised.

Or at least he thought it was surprised, but her voice came out sounding very mad. “For the last time Aang, I can’t just drop my life for yours whenever you want me too!” she yelled.

Katara never yelled at him…

He shrunk back. “I—I didn’t mean it like—wait, I don’t want you to drop your life for me!”

“Well that’s all you ever seem to want me to do these days, Aang. Every time you visit, all you talk about is our future but I’m starting to think we don’t have the same view when we picture it.”

Aang stared back at her, wondering how her normally calm blue eyes could contain so much fire in their glare. How long had she been holding this anger towards him? She was never angry at him…

“Katara I just don’t understand what your asking of me! Do you really think I wouldn’t love to settle down with you somewhere and raise a family and have a peaceful life? You know me Katara, you know that’s all I’ve ever wanted, but that’s just not our destiny.”

“But what about my destiny.”

“What do you mean? I just said our destiny?”

“Yes, I heard, but what about mine.”

“Katara, I don’t see our futures as separate. You know you’ve always been my forever girl, ever since you pulled me from that iceberg and, well, I’ve been looking for the right way to say this but—”

“Aang stop.”

The color drained from his face. She didn’t look mad anymore, just sad, and she wouldn’t look him in the eyes. And just like that, he knew.

“Katara, how long have you been thinking about breaking up with me.”

“Aang I’m not—”

“And please, don’t lie.”

“Aang just listen—”

“You can break my heart in to a million pieces, you can tell me whatever you want. I’m not that little boy I know you’ve always seen me as. I can take it. But don’t sit here and lie to me when you know all I’ve ever wanted was to be with you.”

She still wouldn’t look him in the eyes. He could see the curve of her cheekbones though and the slow cascade of tears streaming down them.

“It’s not that I don’t want you Aang. I’m just not sure what I want anymore. I guess I just don’t want you and your ambitions to consume mine. I’ve always loved you; you know that—”

“But not in the way I want you to love me.”

“No… not in the way you want me to love you.”

They stood there together, it looked just like the place they first said goodbye at, when he let Zuko take him to preserve her tribe.

“I’m leaving tonight, tell Sokka I’ll write.”


End file.
